Greetings GreenMount Community,
Those of
you who are age 30 or older probably have not recognized that the world’s
population has doubled in the last three decades. I recently read this in an article from Educational Leadership and was amazed
that this could be true. The author, Sir
Ken Robinson, who I have mentioned before, includes this data to sound an alarm
about how we are challenging the earth’s resources. This trend will not lessen as the population
continues to grow and we continue to put a strain on our energy consumption,
land use, food and water resources. It
has even been suggested that the next big war might not be about religious
differences or struggles for territory, but about who will have access to
water.
The author goes on to say that
children starting school this year, our kindergarteners, will retire (maybe)
around 2070. Who can imagine what the
world will be like then? In fact, what
do we know about the world five years from now?
Can you remember phone booths? Think about how much change we have seen in
the last ten years alone. Ken Robinson
makes the case for creativity because he feels that unless our students learn
to be creative and innovative, they will not have the tools to be able to
survive in the world that they will face.
They will have to be problem-solvers and work in cooperative
groups. They will need educational
experiences that prepare them to tackle real-world problems with confidence and
experience. They will need to know how
to deal with failure and to work hard to find a level of excellence in all that
they do. Ken Robinson points out that
“you can’t be creative if you don’t do
something.”
So how are we preparing our
students for a future that we can’t imagine?
What do we ask students to do? At GMS we discuss this a lot. Most of our professional development is
focused on how we can foster creativity and problem-solving with the goal of a
cultural appreciation for excellence.
This is a tall order. However,
the work that we do and have done for many years is designed to accomplish this
goal. If you think about the projects we
assign, the discussions we have with students, and the problems that they learn
to tackle, we seem to be doing well with this preparation. Interestingly, we have just recently discovered
just how important the type of learning that happens here is. When I hear that teachers at Poly or City
applaud our students for their confidence and capabilities, I find proof that
we are doing the right thing here.
However, I still feel a sense of urgency as we continue to refine our
practice and the tools we are giving our students. We will continue to grow in this respect as
we encourage creativity in every student.
We also hope that you appreciate the challenges we present your
children. They will have many more in
the world they inherit.
See Ken Robinson’s presentation on creativity:
Cheers,
Steve
